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UK elections regulator rejects Remain campaign spending complaint

LONDON — The U.K.’s elections regulator has rejected a complaint from a former Cabinet minister that the official Remain campaign may have breached spending rules during the EU referendum in June 2016.

The Electoral Commission wrote to former International Development Secretary Priti Patel, a prominent Brexiteer, saying it did not have “reasonable grounds” to suspect Britain Stronger in Europe had committed any offense.

Patel had issued a formal complaint to the Electoral Commission, claiming that BSiE may have failed to report joint spending with the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Parties’ Remain campaigns, therefore exceeding limits on expenditure and delivering false spending returns.

However, following an assessment of the complaint, the Electoral Commission found that all spending had been carried out according to the rules.

They also found that “any instances of working together resulting in referendum spending between BSiE and other campaigners, including spending associated with the coordination of volunteers by BSiE, has been reported.”

Another complaint from Patel — that campaigners had registered with BSiE in the final month of the campaign — was not assessed, because she did not provide any evidence that rules had been broken in this regard, the letter said.

A spokesperson for Britain Stronger in Europe said it was confident the EC would reject the complaint: “We have always taken our legal responsibilities seriously and so are very pleased that the Electoral Commission have ruled out opening an investigation.”